Mitsuru Mansho to... School

Forward Mansho, who played a bit last year after a fantastic high school showing but didn't play this year due to injury, has decided to leave the team to go back to his home prefecture of Osaka. He'll enter university to study, and after recovering from that he'll surely join the university club and eventually come back to the J. League.

Takuro Kikuoka to Tokyo Verdy

Mito lost another good one with midfielder Kikuoka's transfer to Tokyo. He'll be a loss, and probably the biggest loss yet this off season aside from Arata, but in all honesty he'll probably fit in better with Tokyo's play style and they need someone with his skills a bit more than Mito does.

It will certainly be exciting to see which college graduating players are likewise taken away in the next year or two after being nurtured to succeed by the Mito staff!

2 More on the Way

Chuo University midfielder Sho Murata and Kanagawa University's defender Yuji Fujikawa join the club from March.

Like other recent signing Ono, Murata started for collegiate champion Chuo. Fujikawa was a standout with Yokohama F. Marinos youth and remained nearby while studying so he could continue to practice with the team.

Tomoyuki Arata to Jubilo Iwata

Mito's star forward Tomoyuki Arata has transferred to Jubilo Iwata. It was almost miraculous for Mito to keep him with a huge amount of foreign and domestic interest last year, but he's made it clear that he'd like to play on a higher level. Mito couldn't make it this year, so he joined with a good offer from the Shizuoka club. It also happens to be right by his childhood home.

Tae-Yeon Kim to Fagiano Okayama

Midfielder Tae-Yeon Kim, who played for Mito on loan from Kobe this year, completed a full transfer to J2's bottom club Fagiano Okayama for the 2010 season. He played a lot for Mito during the first half of the season but his form compared to the rest of the team dropped at about the same time Mito's form compared to the rest of the league. Even at that level though he'll be a huge boost to Okayama.

2 More on the Way

As could be expected due to Mito's strong ties to Ibaraki's university clubs, 2 more players have signed on for next year from Tsukuba University. Midfielder Shota Otsuka and defender Yuji Sakuda will finish their studies a month early in order to join the team next season.

2 Players Coming In

Goalkeeper Hironobu Ono is signed for next season, coming in from Chuo University. Chuo University won this year's national university soccer tournament and Ono is the starting goalkeeper.

Forward Satoshi Tokiwa is signed for next season, coming in from Tokyo Agricultural University. He previously played for the FC Tokyo youth team.

3 More Players on the Way Out

Not being offered a new contract is midfielder Naoto Ishikawa, who played for 9 minutes this year against Sendai. He was the last squad member who played originally on Mito's youth team.

Not having a rental extension are Kobe's midfielder Tae-Yon Kim and Shonan's forward Kohei Yamamoto. Yamamoto proved to be less than stellar, but Kim did some great play and will be missed.

Mito 2 - 3 Shonan and Year End Wrapup

Mito put forth a huge effort but eventually lost to the stronger team. Just as the loss to Sendai brought that team promotion, this loss allowed Shonan to enter J1. The same thing happened in 2007 when the last game of the season allowed Sapporo in, and Mito came close last year with the last game being at J1-bound Yamagata...

Goals were taken by Nakamura for the second home game in a row and then by Morimura. It was a 2 goal lead created in a span of two minutes, only to be drawn up soon after by Shonan and then the final goal coming in the second half. It could have been won by either side, but there was some joy to see the massive happiness flowing through the away crowd.

The year ends with a few positive notes for the team.

1) This is the first season out of ten with Mito having a winning season. 21 wins, 10 draws, and 20 losses make this narrowly the first season to have more wins than losses.

2) Before the season coach Kiyama aimed for a top 8 finish in the standings, and the team finished in 8th place.

3) Mito finishes in the top half of the standings for the first time.

4) Mito won the inaugural North Kanto Derby trophy, contested by the J2 teams of Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Gunma.

There are no more events scheduled for the year, but hopefully there will be chances to visit players at practices before some bid farewell.

Players Leaving after Saturday

Teams have usually waited until after the season to announce cuts, trades, and retirements, but this year many teams have started to do so before the last match. Mito followed suit.

Goalkeeper Shinichi Shuto. He has been a professional soccer player for 8 years. In that time he has appeared in 2 matches, both Emperor's Cup contests.

Defender Kazuhiro Suzuki. Unlike Shuto's less than ubiquitous nature, Suzuki has actually played in FIFTEEN J. League seasons, just missing out on the first two. That's got to be top percentile of longevity.

Midfielder Kento Hori. Just a couple injury shortened seasons but when he was playing, he gave his all. Likely to go back to the JFL where he was a star.

Midfielder Jun Muramatsu. A dependable player but his results are a bit off from last year.

Midfielder Hiromasa Kanazawa, usually called "Taisho". A solid player who just appeared in his 100th J. League match on Sunday, all but one being for Mito. If he plays on Saturday it'll mean exactly 100 in a Mito uniform.

Midfielder Shunichi Nakajima. Had a chance back in the J. League this year after 2 years in Okinawa, but played even less than he did years before in Nagoya.

All the above players worked hard and I wish them the best, but fans can take relief that no cut players could be considered vital starters or gamemakers.

So...

I don't want to get into details, but the timing of posting stoppage had nothing to do with the coincidental timing of the biggest slump in J2 this year. Some unscrupulous people from another country have been using various information I've been posting for some weird gambling stuff while at the same time hassling me for more information that I already never wrote about.

A couple of weeks ago, I guess the length of no posting along with no mail replies and the tailing down of the season led to being left alone. Anyone in the future hoping to use any information I have for such purposes will be disappointed, as I'm not going to develop any more unique stats and I certainly will not reply to any requests for information from non-fans.